SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - JANUARY 6, 2014
FARGO’S BIG YEAR “But perhaps the most interesting aspect of business in the Fargo-Moorhead area in 2014 was the sheer amount of it.” -- The Forum reported building permits went through the ceiling. In 2013, by mid-December, Fargo had $377 million of building permits; at the same point in 2014, the number approached $1 billion. Sanford Health’s $360 million permit for a new hospital was a big part of the 2014 increase.
RISING OUT OF THE PRAIRIE The Jamestown Sun had no difficulty selecting the year’s biggest story -- the CHS $3 billion nitrogen plant. It’s the largest construction project in ND history. The next three stories were also about construction of large new businesses: the Spiritwood Station generating plant, Dakota Spirit AgEnergy ethanol plant and Menards home improvement store. Guess the No. 5 story! It was new hotels and residences to house construction workers and employees for the new businesses.
TAPPING THE BRAKES The ND oil industry will slowdown and take a breather in 2015. State regulation is part of the reason -- operators will be required to reduce gas flaring at oil wells and crude oil must be conditioned before shipping to reduce its volatility. Low oil prices are expected to slow production and the pace of drilling.
SLOW MIGHT BE GOOD “The past three to four years have been a neverending cycle of struggles for city and state leaders as they tried to keep up with an industry that had no interest in slowing down.” -- From a Dickinson Press editorial welcoming a slowdown in the oil industry. The Press says ND leaders need an opportunity to catch up.
RETURN OF SANITY It may come as a surprise, but some companies working with the oil industry also welcome a slowdown. The president of a crane service in Williston told the Wall Street Journal that “in a way it’s good because it will get the companies more efficient.” He said, “Having to do everything yesterday costs a lot of money. People will quit making $150,000 a year for $25,000-a-year skills.”
FARMING WAS ERRATIC in ND in 2014 -- plunging grain prices and a shortage of rail cars were just a few of the problems. The NDSU Extension Service predicts more of the same for 2015 and says many farmers will not be profitable. The outlook for corn is particularly dim with NDSU projecting a negative return in every region of the state.
TAKING STOCK OF ND Retired Herald Publisher Mike Jacobs has a new book available through Amazon in electronic format: “A Birthday Inquiry: North Dakota at 125: A collection of essays.” The book looks at the state’s legislature and the issues it faces. Jacobs said, “My job is to try to understand and interpret it (what the Legislature does) in the context of the state's history and political culture."
REGIONAL HARMONY In his last “Onlooker” column of the year, Mike Jacobs saw regional harmony developing between East and West as ND oil money spreads across the state. However, each region approaches the upcoming legislative session with its own expectations. The West wants a much greater share of oil production taxes to reach the county level. The East wants support for a variety of expensive Red River Valley water projects.
TRYGVE OLSON “Frankly, I was apolitical. I didn’t even know the difference between a Republican and Democrat, or left and right, or liberal and conservative.” -- Trygve Olson describing how he began his career as an editorial cartoonist with the Forum. His cartoons are among the best in the region and often takeoff on Forum editorials or news articles. When Hamid Shirvani resigned as chancellor of the ND University System, Olson pictured him as a cowboy riding into the sunset. Another cartoon speculated about what UND historian Elwyn Robinson would say about ND’s Oil Boom if he were alive today. Olson also teaches art and design at Moorhead State. The Forum profile noted that thirty years after he started and thousands of cartoons later, Olson has established a left-leaning viewpoint.
THE MSP BLUES “It has been said in jest that when we die out here in North Dakota, we will have to go through Minneapolis-St.Paul airport to reach the pearly gates.” -- Herald columnist Marilyn Hagerty described the stress of making connections in the giant airport during the holidays. Anyone who has navigated a transfer at MSP knows the anxiety of wandering in the giant maze.
WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED? The Sanford Birth Center in Fargo delivered over 2,600 babies in 2014. That’s a sizable sample for identifying the most popular baby names. Are you ready? Mason was the No. 1 name for boys; Olivia for girls. The No. 2 names were Lincoln and Ava, respectively. Where are new Bobs, Bills and Davids? Where have I been?
A TRUE ECCENTRIC Robert Miller (71) never let up. On December 23rd he declared “The party is over!” and promptly died. He was always a “big kid” obsessively collecting trains, toys and movies. His idea of dressing up: shorts, suspenders and crocs. Miller had the perfect occupation for his personality -- owning and operating Bob’s House of Pizza in Jamestown. Over the years, he and his wife provided a home for 70 foster children, yet he still had time to routinely sing with the Jamestown Choralaires.
SOMETHING IS NOT WORKING McKenzie County deputies, investigating a crash between a tanker truck and a car, arrested three Hispanic men as they ran into the Badlands tossing a jug containing methamphetamine. One of the men was charged with felony immigration violations -- he had been deported 33 times prior to this arrest.
I-94 IS A DRUG CORRIDOR The ND Highway Patrol stopped a speeder on I-94 in Bismarck. The outcome -- discovery of 4.5 pounds of heroin with a street value of $2.5 million. Two Arizona men were arrested. Imagine the amount of drugs carried into ND by criminals who don’t crash or who aren’t caught speeding.
MINNESOTA is conducting a study of the impact on that state of the ND oil boom. The Minnesota Dept. of Transportation reported one of the first items -- the state needs about a quarter of a billion dollars to redo unsafe crossings on railroad lines with heavy oil traffic. For example, take Moorhead -- 44 oil trains a week enter Minnesota through the city and each train has 100 cars.
DAKTOIDS: A team of UND engineering students won a world championship at a student design competition in Montreal. They built an unmanned aerial system which lifted up to 100 pounds . . . The USDA reports that ND leads the nation in access to high-speed Internet . . . The percentage of ND high school graduates entering the ND University System (51 percent) is steadily decreasing, while, of course, the percentage of non-residents steadily rises.
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